The tangled government web behind push to ban gas stoves

We know California is aiming to be the first state to ban gas heaters, water heaters, and stoves by 2030, in line with the policy of the all-governor-appointed California Air Resources Board.

Now the federal government wants to ban gas stoves. They claim that “the climate impact of homes in the US is comparable to the annual carbon emissions of 500,000 cars.”

“The US Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to take action to combat environmental pollution that can cause health and respiratory problems,” Bloomberg reported this week. “This is a hidden danger,” said agency spokesman Richard Trumka Jr. in an interview. “Any option on the table. Products that cannot be made safe may be banned.”

Where did this strange idea come from?

Wait, this is an e-ticket ride.

Friday, January 6, 2022 The Guardian reported that “Emissions of toxic chemicals and carcinogens from gas stoves pollute buildings worse than car traffic.”

The Guardian writes that “studies have repeatedly found that the release of toxic chemicals and carcinogens from gas stoves, even when they are turned off, creates a miasma of indoor pollution.”

This study link is provided by Harvard Health Publishing. Article written by Wynn Armand, MD, September 2022, who states that “Cooking on gas stoves creates nitrogen dioxide and releases additional tiny airborne particles known as PM2.5, which are lung irritants. Nitrogen dioxide has been linked to childhood asthma. In 2019 alone, it is estimated that almost two million new cases of childhood asthma worldwide were caused by nitrogen dioxide pollution.”

Dr. James Anstrom of UCLA has long denied the epidemiology of PM2.5. He found no reliable association between PM2.5 and overall mortality. However, this claim of these airborne particles has been used for decades by the government and the American Cancer Society “as the primary justification for many costly regulations, most recently the Clean Energy Plan,” as Dr. Enstrom explains.

Dr. Enstrom explains the background and his conclusion:

In 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for fine particulate matter (PM).2.5), largely due to its positive association with overall mortality in the 1982 American Cancer Society (CPS II) cohort. Subsequently, the EPA has used this ratio as the main rationale for many costly regulations, most recently the Clean Energy Plan. An independent analysis of the CPS II data was performed to test the validity of this relationship.

No significant relationship between PM2.5 and overall mortality in the CPS II cohort was found when the best available PM2.5 data was used. An initial analysis in 1995 found a positive association with selective use of CPS II and PM.2.5 data. This independent analysis of the original data raises serious doubts about the CPS II epidemiological data supporting PM.2.5 NAAKS. These results provide strong grounds for further independent analysis of the CPS II data.

The essence of the Guardian article is the following statement: “According to an analysis of observational studies, children living in households where gas stoves are used for cooking are 42% more likely to develop asthma. While observational studies cannot prove that gas cooking is a direct cause of asthma, evidence also shows that the higher the nitrogen dioxide level, the more severe asthma symptoms in children and adults.”

And this: “Organizations such as the Massachusetts Medical Society and the American Medical Association are trying to raise physician and public awareness of these risks.”

The Guardian article also mentions “a carbon-free building program at RMI that did the research”. What or who is RMI?

RMI is the Rocky Mountain Institute, “a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to radically improving America’s energy practices.”

Global RMI programs. (RMI.org)

But the link in the Guardian article leads readers not to RMI, but to the MDPI International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, which the MDPI says “is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal published by the MDPI, to a study called ‘Percentage of the population attributed to populations.” gas stoves and childhood asthma in the United States.”

This is a screenshot of the online learning page:

Study of the MDPI gas stove. (Photo: MDPI.com)

MDPI refers to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Library of Medicine. NIH is the largest source of medical research funding in the world. And MDPI says, “This study was supported in part by internal RMI funds and in part by the National Cancer Institute.” The National Cancer Institute is part of the NIH (cancer.gov).

The MDPI reveals that several people are the authors of the study, including Brady Seals, manager of the carbon-free building program at RMI, who told the Guardian that “the prevalence of asthma due to gas stoves is similar to the amount of asthma caused by secondhand smoke, which she called “mind blowing” . Seals added: “We knew it was a problem, but we didn’t know how serious it was. This study shows that if we got rid of gas stoves, we would prevent 12.7% of childhood asthma, and I think most people would like to do that.”

The carbon-free building program at RMI states:

We have to:

Build only zero-carbon buildings

Modernization of 5% of buildings annually

Make sure electrical and efficient appliances

RMI claims they are: “Developing technical, policy and regulatory solutions to accelerate the transition to all-electric buildings.”

You can begin to see how this attempt to ban gas stoves began. Their agenda is huge.

The Rocky Mountain Institute offers “carbon-free buildings”. They say: “Commercial buildings consume more than 35 percent of the electricity generated in the US and are inferior to them in every way. They waste energy, emit too much carbon, and are too costly for owners and occupants.”

As part of the RMI Carbon-free Electricity program, they say:

We have to:

Scale your clean energy portfolios

Build clean, competitive, modern networks

Make utilities clean energy champions

Natural gas does not fit into this model.

RMI’s 2019 revenue (their latest IRS form 990 available) was $61,864,266. And the RMI organization qualifies under the IRS rules as a “government backed organization” by more than 72%, according to their 2019 IRS Form 990.

So the question is, “Did the US government (National Cancer Institute) initiate a study backed by the RMI mission plan and government funding?” If the government gives the Rocky Mountain Institute most of its funding and then uses the Rocky Mountain Institute to justify a ban on gas stoves, where is the independent peer review? Or is it also from a government funded organization?

“We need to talk about regulation of gas stoves, whether it’s a drastic reduction in emissions or a total ban on gas stoves,” said Richard Trumka, Commissioner of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, according to the Chicago Tribune. “And I think we have to keep that ban opportunity in mind because it’s a powerful tool in our toolbox, and it’s a real opportunity here.”

“Good ventilation systems can reduce the health risks of gas cooking. But Trumka said it’s important that your stove’s exhaust hood connects to a vent outside your home.”

“Trumka’s remarks were made during a recent virtual press conference hosted by the PIRG.” The Tribune informs us that PIRG is a network of public interest research groups.

“Starting a federal process that could lead to stricter regulation of gas stoves is a ‘big step,'” said Matt Casale, director of US PIRG environmental campaigns, according to the Tribune.

A Google search for PIRGs says they “manage and support organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change.”

PIRG states: “All Americans want a healthier, safer and more secure future. PIRG is working to find common ground around common sense solutions to help make this future a reality. The issues we are working on are not progressive or conservative. These are simply problems that our country should not put up with in an age of great abundance and technological progress.”

The Guardian reported that last year, Stanford researchers found that levels of nitrogen dioxide emitted by gas stoves and ovens may exceed safe standards set for environmental pollution by the Environmental Protection Agency. The link to Stanford brings us back to the NIH report called Methane and NO. X Emissions from gas stoves, hobs and ovens in residential buildings. This revelation is contained in the abstract of their study: “Using a 20-year period for methane, annual methane emissions from all gas stoves in US homes have an impact on the climate comparable to the annual carbon dioxide emissions from 500,000 cars.”

Why are anti-fossil fuel zealots so stubborn about getting gas stoves out of private homes when, if they were honest, and if gas stoves were really as dangerous as they claim, they would go against professional commercial kitchens and fast food kitchens , where stoves and burners work all day, cooking freshly ordered dishes.

I am not advocating closing McDonalds, In-N-Out, Chez Panisse or Spago. But none of this research seems legitimate because, again, the government is targeting the most basic people — consumers and individuals — rather than the industry that professionally uses commercial gas stoves.

It’s as if the government is just trying to create another employment program – for itself – instead of meeting a real need. Perhaps the motive is more sinister. The studies mention the WHO, as do many Chinese studies.

UPDATEThe White House said Wednesday that President Joe Biden does not support a gas stove ban after a federal consumer safety official suggested such a proposal was on the table, CNN reported.

It’s probably a good move, considering the White House kitchen is equipped with a gas stove.

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